A Treatise on Mental Derangement

London: Longman, Brown ..., 1843. Second Enlarged Edition.. Original publisher's cloth.. Fine.. 8vo.

Willis' book is the vehicle for this new tract undertaken by an anonymous editor. This new book contains numerous references to publications that appeared after Willis' death delivering the impression of an attempt to build on the author's name. The editor states at the outset that his concern was to argue in favor of the continued restraint of the insane in asylums thereby defending a somewhat less than modern outlook. It has to be remembered that the debate over the use of restraints for the insane seemed to carry all before it and from the prospect of the twentieth century appears to have been the correct course. But at the time the outcome was not nearly certain. To buttress his claims the editor devotes the best part of the text to descriptions of the types of insanity. It is for these informed clinical profiles that the book is notable. See Hunter McAlpine.